Industrial Research InstituteTuesday June 23, 2015 6:15pm

Arlington, VA (June 23, 2015)–The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) today joined scores of other organizations as well as leaders of American business, industry, higher education, science, and engineering in an urgent call to action for stronger federal policies and investment to drive domestic research and development. Ten CEOs and 252 organizations, many of them members of IRI, signed “Innovation: An American Imperative,” a document aimed at federal decision makers and legislators. It underscores the findings—and warnings—contained in The American Academy of Arts & Sciences report, Restoring the Foundation: The Vital Role of Research in Preserving the American Dream.

According to Restoring the Foundation, “There is a deficit between what America is investing and what it should be investing to remain competitive, not only in research but in innovation and job creation.” The United States is failing to keep pace with competitor nations with regard to investments in basic research and development. America’s ascendency in the 20th century was due in large part—if not primarily—to its investments in science and engineering research. Basic research is behind every new product brought to market, every new medical device or drug, every new defense and space technology, and many innovative business practices.

Over the last two decades, a steady decline in investment in research & development (R&D) in the United States has allowed our nation to fall to 10th place in R&D investment among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD) nations as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP).

At this pace, China will surpass the United States in R&D intensity in about eight years.

These developments led a diverse coalition of those concerned with the future of research in America to join together in presenting the “Innovation Imperative” to federal policy makers and urging them to take action to:

Details on these action items, as well as a full list of signatories, are included in the full document, which is linked above and posted on the websites of each of the following organizations:

• American Academy of Arts & Sciences
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Association of Universities
• Association of Public and Land-grant Universities
• Battelle
• Coalition for National Science Funding
• Coalition for National Security Research
• Council on Competitiveness
• Energy Sciences Coalition
• Task Force on American Innovation
• The Science Coalition

About the Industrial Research Institute

The Industrial Research Institute (IRI) is an organization of 200+ industrial and service companies having a common interest in the effective management of technological innovation. IRI member companies span diverse industries and represent a substantial portion of our nation’s gross domestic product. IRI is the only cross-industry organization creating innovation leadership solutions and best practices in innovation management developed through collaborative knowledge creation. For more information, call 703-647-2580 or visit www.iriweb.org.

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